Climate

Labour has begun to make its way through their list of promises for the first 100 days in office. So far we have been somewhat underwhelmed by the policy announcements made; you can see our thoughts on Labour’s minimum wage increases and their foreign ownership ban here. In general this Labour-led Government looks like a continuation of the red/blue duopoly we have seen in recent decades. They are keen to look like they are busy doing something but in essence are addressing symptoms without really dealing with the underlying issues behind them.

Today the National Government announced a package to bolster the Emissions Trading Scheme that may achieve its conservative emissions targets. It’s great they have finally woken up and are acknowledging that climate change isn’t going away, that we will eventually have to do something to reduce emissions. But the key word here when one talks about National’s approach is the word eventually. All the changes the Government is talking about are good, but many are too weak and none will be implemented until 2020.

Playing backyard cricket with my brothers we used to say that cheats never prosper. In other words if you lie or break the rules, you’ll only end up hurting yourself. That is certainly the case with the United States pulling out of the Paris Agreement, and something that our own Government is also familiar with.

The question on everyone’s lips this weekend is whether this is bad weather or climate change? Of course we have always had bad weather but the evidence is clear; climate change is making bad weather events more frequent, and it is only going to get worse.

Today a new report from Vivid Economics has been released which sets out a number of different pathways or scenarios that New Zealand could use to get our carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2050. This research is the start of an important discussion that will hopefully lead to a plan that all political parties can agree to. So what does the report tell us?

The world is getting hotter and it is increasingly certain that human activities are the major driver of this warming. Tackling this challenge requires a deep cultural shift toward “greener”, more innovative sources of growth and sustainable consumption patterns.

The science is clear; climate change is real and as a result we need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels by 2050. This is a great challenge for the world, but as a nation we should embrace the opportunity to reduce emissions. After nine years of doing nothing we are slipping behind other countries.